nightlights - The Night Ministry

NON-PROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PALATINE IL
PERMIT # 825
4711 North Ravenswood Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640-4407
773-784-9000
www.thenightministry.org
ftiY
The Crib will remain open year-round
under new funding announced by the
City of Chicago in February. While
the funding will allow The Crib to
stay open year-round, it does not cover the entire program cost.
An Insider’s Look: North Shore Israel’s Meal Program
day, produces meals for 10 Chicagoarea and Lake County social service
organizations.
For 10 years, the congregation has
included The Night Ministry in their
Feed the Homeless Program. Each
month, the program provides 200 bag
meals, which include two sandwiches,
juice, fruit and cookies for The
Ministry’s Health Outreach Bus and
hot chili dinner for young women and
their children at The Night Ministry’s
Response-Ability
Pregnant
and
Parenting Program (RAPPP).
Feed The Homeless began 20 years ago
with a few members of North Shore
Congregation Israel distributing bag
lunches in an alley off Madison Avenue
in Chicago. Today, the synagogue has
meal making down to a science. Each
volunteer has a different, integral duty:
hauling groceries from Sunset Foods in
the morning, working on a sandwich
assembly line and putting cookies into
single servings in the afternoon, or
delivering to and serving at agencies
in the evening. Lois Davis, Feed the
Homeless Coordinator, says working
with The Night Ministry is an important
partnership because doing Mitzvotgood deeds- is at the core of Judaism.
While the program began 20 years ago
to feed the homeless, Davis admits it has
outgrown the name. Feed The Homless
Program also provides food for after
school tutoring programs and other
social service organizations.
Photo by Merle A. Branner
NIGHTLIGHTS
The Crib to Remain Open Year-Round
Address Service Requested.
The members of North Shore
Congregation Israel in Glencoe
no doubt have varied nine-to-five
routines: bankers, teachers, lawyers, or
caregivers. But one Sunday a month
members volunteer in its Feed The
Homeless Program. For nine months
each year, North Shore Congregation’s
Feed the Homeless Program feeds 750
members of the Chicago community.
Twenty-five volunteers from North
Shore Congregation Israel give their
time to participate in a meticulously
planned food operation that, in just one
MAY 2013 ISSUE
If your congregation is interested in
meal preparation or serving a meal
alongside the Health Outreach Bus or
at The Crib on the weekends, please
contact Volunteering, Community and
Congregational Relations (VCCR)
Manager Gail Bernoff at 773-506-6015.
The Night Ministry partnered with
the City of Chicago Department of
Family and Support Services, Lakeview Lutheran Church and First Slice
to create The Crib in January 2011.
Every night, The Crib provides overnight shelter and supportive service
referrals to 20 street-based youth ages
18 – 24. Feedback and input were
provided by the HELLO advocacy
group members and Youth Outreach
Team event participants throughout
the program’s creation. During 2011
and 2012, The Crib operated seasonally.
In expanding The Crib to year-round
operations, the City of Chicago also
announced a plan to replicate The
Night Ministry’s model citywide.
Once all of the programs become operational, there will be 94 new beds
based on the model The Night Ministry pioneered in Chicago. If more
than 20 young people request a bed,
The Crib uses a lottery process during
intake and has had to turn away up to
20 youth once capacity is reached.
New beds throughout the city will
give The Crib a resource to provide to
youth who are turned away.
From January through
March this year, The
Crib provided shelter to 92 youth. The
Night Ministry’s President and CEO, Paul
W. Hamann, says that
support from the community is essential to
make these services
available.
“With support to keep
The Crib open yearround, we are able to
provide more youth with a safe place
to spend the night, off of the streets,
so that they can start to make the connections with our staff and volunteers
that will eventually assist them in
changing their living situation. We
are thrilled to offer more youth this
type of support, but we can’t do the
work alone,”
said Hamann.
community meetings. “My ideas [for
The Crib] are based off community
ideas. Everybody comes and talks to
me,” Patricia said. Patricia will graduate from high school this year and
says the encouragement from The
Crib’s staff has helped her set and
achieve goals.
Aram Mitchell, The Crib’s Assistant
Coordinator, believes that year-round
operations will make The Crib even
more successful at building relationships with youth. “Being open yearround lets momentum build. Closing
each summer felt like we had to rebuild trust [with young people] each
time we reopened,” said Mitchell.
Patricia (pictured above), 20 years
old, is one of the young people who
has found shelter at The Crib. Patricia is a member of The Crib’s Youth
Leadership Team – a group of seven
youth who act as liaisons between
staff and guests and take a leadership
role in the community of youth who
In 2013, The Crib expects to provide
access The Crib.
230 youth with overnight shelter,
At The Crib, Patricia organizes group meals, laundry, showers, referrals to
activities, plans celebrations and rep- case management and other supportresents The Crib’s residents in weekly ive services.
Providing housing, health care and human
connection to members of our community struggling
with poverty or homelessness for over 36 years.
Reflections: Peoples Gas Delivers on Corporate Responsibility
Registration for Golf Outing In Full Swing!
“Homelessness could
happen to any one of
us at any given time.” I
have never experienced
homelessness, but The
Night Ministry feels
like home to me as it
does to countless others in our community.
I am glad that an organization like The Night
Ministry, which is dedicated to improving the
lives of the homeless
and vulnerable, exists
in Chicago.
Registration is now open for The Night Ministry’s 8th annual Golf Outing. The event takes place on September 23 at Kemper Lakes Golf Club
in Kildeer, IL. All proceeds benefit The Crib, The Night Ministry’s overnight emergency shelter that addresses immediate housing needs for
homeless young people ages 18 to 24.
The event begins at 7:00 am on Monday, September 23. Tickets cost
$375 per individual or $1,500 per foursome. This cost includes 18 holes
of golf, a continental breakfast as well as a buffet lunch. Individuals or
companies are also invited to “sponsor a hole” for $500.
The cost of an Annual Golf Outing ticket ($375) could provide safe,
emergency housing and meals for a young person at The Crib for up
to six nights. The Crib houses 20 homeless young adults every night.
Contact Christy Prassas at (773) 506-6023 for more information about
tickets or sponsorship.
By Patricia Bridges, Corporate
Contributions, Peoples Gas
THE NIGHT MINISTRY THANKS YOU FOR YOUR CARING SUPPORT.
We’re happy to recognize gifts received between January 16 - April 30, 2013 at the $1000 level or higher for our
programs and operations.
LUMINARIES
CITY LIGHTS
Anonymous
Chicago Dept. of Family and
Support Services
Mary & Paul Finnegan
Helen Brach Foundation
The Chicago Community
Trust/Henry Van Gelder
Fund
Illinois Dept. of Human Services
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Keiser
Donor Advised Fund
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
U.S. Dept. of Health & Human
Services
U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban
Development
Anonymous
AON Foundation
Barbara & John Baran
Benjamin B. Green-Field
Foundation
Countryside Church Unitarian
Universalist, Palatine
David & Jean Stremmel
Fund/Donor Advised Fund at
The Chicago Community Trust
Glenview Community Church
Joseph & Bessie Feinberg
Foundation
Robert Kohl & Clark Pellett
Sheldon L. and Pearl R. Leibowitz
Foundation
The John D. & Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation
Winnetka Congregational Church
- Women’s Society
($25,000+)
CONSTELLATIONS
($10,000-$24,999)
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
BMO Harris Bank
Chicago Dept. of Public Health
Chicago White Sox Community
Fund, a McCormick
Foundation Fund
Franklin Square Foundation
Gil & Marlene Bowen Christian
Outreach Fund
Anne & Bill Goldstein
Grosvenor Capital Management,
L.P.
The Estate of Robert C. O’Brien
($5,000-$9,999)
GUIDING LIGHTS
($1,000-$4,999)
Anonymous
Alvin H. Baum Family Fund
Staci & William Beam
Norma Z. Bennett
BNSF Railway Foundation
Carol Lavin Bernick Family
Foundation
Carolyn & James Brett
Charles P. Carey
Community Church of
Barrington
Community Church of Wilmette
CVS Caremark
Anne-Marie Douglas
Ebenezer Lutheran Church,
Chicago
Elick and Charlotte Lindon
Foundation
FEMA
First United Methodist Church,
Evanston
Fourth Presbyterian Church,
Chicago
Hewlett-Packard Company
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of
Chicago
INTREN, Inc.
JMR Charities, Inc.- Jerry
Reinsdorf, Tom Meador, and
Bob Judelson
David Kerastas
Ruth Krugly & Darryl R.
Davidson
Brian & Kim Love
Morton Grove Community
Church
Sandra L. Mueller
Navigant Consulting - Lending
A Hand
Northern Trust Matching Gift
Program
Frances M. O’Hern
Denise M. Peterson
Karen & Dick Pigott
Quarles & Brady LLP
Pilgrim Congregational Church,
Oak Park
Mary Hutchings Reed
Rooney Rippie & Ratnaswamy
LLP
Lora Sanberg
Sauganash Community Church,
Chicago
Gerald & Barbara Schultz
Sisters of Charity of Our Lady
Mother of Mercy
Michael T. Smith
St. Paul United Church of Christ,
Chicago
Leonard G. Strauch
The Bednarz/McMahon Family
Fund
The Boeing Company
The Fama Family Charitable
Fund
The Kramer Family Fund,
a Donor Advised Fund of the
Merrill Lynch Community
Charitable Fund of TheChicago
Community Foundation
The PrivateBank
The Service Club of Chicago
Union Church of Hinsdale
United Way of Metropolitan
Chicago
Wells Fargo Foundation
Whole Foods Market
William Blair & Company, LLC
Shelley Ziacik
The last Wednesday of every month,
just like clockwork, a group of my
co-workers at Peoples Gas find their
way to Conference Room B on the
18th floor. They aren’t there for a
departmental meeting. Instead, they
are giving up their lunch hour and
volunteering to prepare sack suppers
for The Night Ministry. They slide on
plastic serving gloves, form an assembly line to prepare sandwiches,
and pack them with a bag of chips
and snack crackers.
For more than 10 years, Peoples Gas
has partnered with The Night Ministry in their outreach to serve adults
and youth who struggle with homelessness, poverty and loneliness. It’s
part of our company’s commitment
to give back and support the communities it serves. Opportunities like
this also give employees a chance to
volunteer for causes that are near and
dear to them.
At Peoples Gas, approximately 10-20
employees forfeit their lunch break to
assemble 200 sack suppers for The
Night Ministry each month. Peoples
Gas provides all of the food and sup-
plies. At the end of the day, we deliver them to The Night Ministry for
distribution on the Health Outreach
Bus as it finds its way across the city.
Even though the sack suppers are a
big hit with the employees, we wanted to do more. Imagine starting your
day without having the hygiene supplies we all take for granted. In 2012,
Peoples Gas employees collected
more than 2000 sample-sized toiletry
items such as soap, toothpaste, shampoo, lotions, and deodorant for donation to The Night Ministry. Again,
employees gave up their lunch break
to sort the items and were able to prepare 250 hygiene kits. The kits were
distributed from the Health Outreach
Bus and Youth Outreach Van.
Our service with The Night Ministry
has become more than a company
commitment for me. I’ll never forget crying while watching a video of
The Night Ministry’s work at the first
Lighting Up the Night Awards Dinner
and Auction I attended. I love working alongside the volunteers and employees of The Night Ministry. It takes
special people to not only give their
time, but to pour their whole heart
into the work they do. They all say,
Peoples Gas will receive the President’s
Award at the 2013 Lighting Up the Night
Awards Dinner and Auction on June 20.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Laurel A. Neu, Chair
Robert A. Carson, Vice Chair
Brian D. Fergemann, Secretary
Dennis W. Thorn, Treasurer
Ike Hong
Gordon Addington
Keisha Parker
Barbara Baran
Alicia Pond
Dave Berger
Ellen Romberg
D. Steven Bishop
Sharbel Shamoon
Kiantae A. Bowles
Rev. Shawna Bowman
Sean T. Taylor
Carl W. Warschausky
Arielle Deane
William A. Goldstein Raymond J. White, Jr.
Chester A. Gougis
Directors Emeriti
Rev. Thomas Behrens,
Founding President & Former CEO
Robert Jordan, Jr.
Richard Pigott
Lora Sanberg
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Paul W. Hamann
President
Barbara Bolsen
Vice President of Programs
Guy Haupin
Vice President of Finance
Christy Prassas
Vice President of Development &
External Relations